Texas continues its bid to be the worst state in the nation for abortion access, jailing a woman on murder charges for an alleged self-induced abortion. Lizelle Herrera was arrested Thursday, charged with murder, and held in a Rio Grande city jail for two nights before Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez said he would dismiss the charges.
While a state law passed in Texas last year bans performing an abortion on another person after six weeks pregnancy, it does not apply to self-induced abortions, nor does it allow for criminal charges. Its mechanism of enforcement is through civil lawsuits brought by citizens, not agents of the state.
